Of course we could not resist cutting out the tiniest frogs and to put them beside jelly beans.

Brachycephalus frogs are less than a 1 cm long (0.39 inches) or approximately the size of a jelly bean. They have bright colourful poisonous skin to protect themselves from being eaten. Also the skin is often rough and bumpy. They often have three toes and two fingers, instead of the five toes and four fingers that are found on most frogs.

Photo: Luiz Fernando Ribeiro, CC BY SA

The frogs live in cool “cloud forests”and seven frogs were recently found living on seven mountains. The tiny frogs are sensitive to change in the temperature so it might be tricky for them to change from the cool mountain climate to the warmer temperatures in the valleys below.

What if these tiny, tiny frogs decide to meet?

How can they overcome the problems?

What things could the tiny jelly bean frogs invent to make sure that they could meet?

Perhaps the frogs can build robos to help them fly over the valleys. Since frogs have strong back legs perhaps the Jelly Bean Frog Robo could have wings attached to the legs to help them fly. Or extra pairs of back legs so that they can jump and jump and jump. . .

They could attach a frogachute. Or build a temperature bubble or spray some heat foam to make sure that they can survive the changes in temperature. THis could help them to jump down the mountains and meet in the valley.

All these ideas can lead to an exciting story about Seven Inventive Frogs living on Seven Mountains and how they make things so that they can meet. Several things may not go according to plan and this is a great way to explore and discover risks with certain ideas.

By planning and telling a story involving inventions and idea, children gain a deeper insight into not just how nature solves problems but also how ideas need to be modified and changed to work as a solution. Biomimicry is a way to use nature for inspiration and there are no ready solutions to be found. Instead ideas and solutions need to be modified and changed.

Frogs are great animals to study to get ideas, you can read some blog posts about biomimicry and frogs here and here.